Saturday, October 27, 2012

I thought I'd see this set a lot more here in Singapore despite the fact that it was an San Diego Comic Con 2012 Exclusive. We're lucky down here because we usually see SDCC Exclusives as store exclusives somewhere down the road. And even if they don't show up in your regular department store or Toys R Us, they usually make it to the local weekend toy "flea market," though it's at "collector" prices.

But there was no sign of the Masters of Evil here, no sign until STGCC 2012 and Toyrealm had brought a few sets in as their "Exclusive". Okay, so they didn't call it as such, but Vincent was the only one who'd bought it in. Despite the rather hefty price, I didn't want to miss out on this box set because it was one of the few Exclusives at SDCC 2012 that caught my eye.

Now I don't particularly like any of the Masters of Evil guys as individuals, but as a group, I think they're more than worthy adversaries for the Avengers. After all, they did form up for that purpose--to take on the good guys.

The list of characters on the Masters of Evil roster is almost as long as that of the Avengers'.

In Marvel Universe 3.75" figure terms, this is the list of made characters so far :

Absorbing Man

Constrictor

Enchantress

Klaw

Ultron-5

Wonder Man

Whiplash (Iron Man 2 Comic Series)

The Wrecking Crew:

-Bulldozer

-Thunderball

-Piledriver

-Wrecker

Toastin' it the way only bad guys know how to...

That's about 10% of the villains on this list and not nearly enough to make a formidable force on the toy shelf!

Thankfully, we can add a couple more members to the roster, as well as their dreaded leader!

Enter Baron Zemo, Radioactive Man, and Tiger Shark!

Like: That we got three characters in a set that otherwise would've probably taken a while more to be released individually. True, everyone would probably by a single Baron Zemo. But can you imagine the countless Tiger Shark and the zounds(!) of Radioactive Man that would stay on the pegs? Sure, us Marvel fanatics would pick them up, but imagine the kid walking through the toy aisles:

Kid: Mom! I wanna buy Tiger Shark. He's awesome cool with all his sharp teeth and that giant fin on his head!

Mom: You wanna buy who? Ugh, he looks evil with all that teeth! (Duh.) Here, why not pick up some more swell like Captain America?

Kid: Aww man. How about Radioactive Man? He's all cool and green and stuff!

Mom: Definitely not. I'm not buying you a super villain, much less one that doesn't wear any pants.

Kid: Man. Just because Dad doesn't wear pants at home....

So yeah, I'm happy we got some of the more obscure villains along with a much wanted bad guy mastermind!

Like: That two of the three sculpts are the newer, more mobile bucks. Zemo's got the slender buck with the new thigh cuts and the newer rotating ankles, while Tiger Shark has the same on the tall buck. Both have chest pivots and waists. That's just simply great articulation.

Dislike: That they slipped one old buck in with Radioactive Man :( You'll also wanna watch out for Zemo's PoAs, which can be loose right out of the box. Mine's got a loose left thigh swivel. Both Tiger Shark and Zemo also don;t have the new deeper leg ball-joints. I don't know why this is, unless they'd already planned the set way in advance before they'd improved the joints as they have in the new MU waves.

Like: The tooling of special parts for Zemo. His shoulder/collar piece, his fur boot rings. The head with his exotic looking mask. There's also his sword and gun, which is a Han Solo blaster right out of the Star Wars line. Great paint on all of these.

Dislike: That the shoulder piece is very loose. I'm ok that it's not glued down, but it could definitely fit better/tighter. Also, his sword is entirely too short. Well and good if it's meant to be a short sword. But the guy is an expert fencer, so there's not way he'd be caught with a blade that's a glorified dagger!

Like: Tiger Shark's head. The sneer is equal parts villainous, cruel and joy and the former two. His gums are a fresh pink-red, while his teeth are picked out ever so well. Oh and check out that fin! That would fetch a tidy sum if sold on the black market for shark's fin soup! (Don't try it, those poor sharks die horribly... :'{ )

Tiger's entire costume is also completely made up of paint apps. The shiny purple/blue in done clean enough, while there's paint wash on all his orange parts to bring out the definition. No part of him is unpainted.

Like: Radioactive Man's green. His costume is also quite awesome and I think one of the few in the Marvel Universe which is baggy instead of completely body-hugging. It's made from soft plastic instead of just painted on.

(He was so radioactively green that I had trouble taking photos of him! Just look at the interference in these shots! Lol okay, I'm kidding. I just got a new camera after the Old Faithful wigged out and this was the first review I was using it to do. The photos turned out a lot worse than I thought and for that, i apologize. I've got it right since though. Watch this space! ;P)

Dislike: That his costume, which is supposed to be a onesie like thing, is open at the bottom beneath his crotch. It makes him look like he's wearing a singlet with no pants! (Or underwear for that matter...)

Like: That they used a medium buck for radioactive man and sculpted the costume, giving him not just the right bulk but also a unique medium-plus size. He's not as tall as Tiger Shark but just as broad.

Dislike: The set is great on tooling, but it needs more accessories! even the gun and the sword that come with Zemo don't fit well in his hands. I suppose that's more of a Zemo problem than an accessories problem.

RATINGS

Aesthetics: A great looking set. Colour-wise, they complement each other very well.Size wise, I like that we have a slim Zemo, a bulky Rad Man, and a big Tiger Shark. (Luke Cage size). and it's in the great painting and tooling of parts that you can see where the cost of the figures went.

Zemo: 8.5/10 - Love the paint wash all over him, especially on his fur trim, his head, and the purple parts of his uniform.

Rad Man: 7.5/10 - Great translucent glowy green parts!

Tiger Shark: 9/10 - They could've left him all yellow but they didn't. Instead, he's been washed all over in thin orange paint. He's got great teeth, picked out very nicely. The shiny blue is also awesomely tampographed on!

Poseability:A deceptively poseable set because you can see in package that Rad Man is an older buck.

Tiger Shark looks the most flexible because you can see his thigh and waist swivels among the other standard PoAs.

But Zemo is the one that has a sneaky buck that has the boot top swivels concealed. the waist swivel is impossible to see in the box because the guy is hiding it with his flashy gold belt!

Zemo: 8/10 - Tooling doesn't get in the way of this skinny buck. Joints are well hidden. But beware the loose joints, espeically after posing him for a bit.

Rad Man: 7/10 - He's got an old buck and his torso movement is severely limited by soft plastic onesie.

Tiger Shark: 9/10 - The guy's got everything except for double hinge elbows. Nothing gets in the way of his PoAs moving aside for the head, which is prevented from looking up fully because of that giant fin.

Fun: This set not just adds to the Masters of Evil roster but also gives them their leader.

Guys like Tiger Shark and Radioactive Man are also fun because you can imagine they have one thing they're good at and all sorts of play situations where they get owned by the Avengers simply because they are simply too one dimensional and probably a little bit dumb. :P

Faded patches? Radioactive burnout! Yeah!

Zemo: 8/10 - Finally, some other than Red Skull for Captain America to fight! Gotta love these bad guy leaders!

Rad Man: 8/10 -A shiny, glowy dude is always fun to look at. And if you get bored with that, you can always look under his "shirt." :*

Tiger Shark: 8/10 - I tell you, these Masters. They have someone for everyone. In this case, a deep-diving supervillain every seafaring superhero. So Namor, eat your heart out. If not, Tiger Shark will do it fer ya! :P

Value: It was heftily price at S$95. But I got it at S$85. Still not cheap, prompting the Rangerlord to say to me "I didn't know you wanted it that bad." Lol. But I was happy to pay for an Exclusive and for the chance to review it. It's an Exclusive after all.

Zemo: 7.5/10 - Lots of tooling, lots of great paint apps, two accessories. Good value.

Rad Man: 7/10 - Plain buck, old articulation. Saved by the translucent green plastic and the onesie, which was specially sculpted for his modesty.

Zemo eyes up some new merchandise

Tiger Shark: 7.5/10 - Great articulation and equally good paint job. It wouldn't hurt if he came with an accessory or two, like some half eaten whale or something--a fake, 3.75" scale one, of course. Don't everyone go RSPCA on me. All right, even that's too big. Whale bones. With meat still on them. There. :P

Overall:

Zemo: 8/10

Rad Man: 7.4/10

Tiger Shark: 8.4/10

A great box set that should be re-released so that it can get to the masses. Sure, all of us that have it may feel a little short-changed, depending on how much you paid for it.

I figured out the camera's best settings! Yes, I know. I forgot the Enchantress...

But if they do this set as a repaint, or if they give us another two different, even less prominent villains with a re-released Zemo, I wouldn't mind. I'd probably pick it up since there were thirteen Baron Zemos and the figure has great potential for customization because of all the removable parts. (You could do and elder Zemo or even a Zemo in a suit!) Knowing Hasbro, they'd come up with an even better way to re-release the figures, and yes, we'd probably see all of them again sometime later on the mass market!

Yeah, Zemo has really grown on me. I actually thought he'd make a better villain for Cap in his movie rather than Red Skull. But then again, that's just based on looks. Lol. I'd say Zemo is due at least one variant, given his other costumes. :)

Don't sweat the photos, sir... new cameras are incredibly, deceptively hard to get used to! They look just fine to me! Great review.. I'm loving the sets that MU has been putting out.. I'll probably grab one today, to be honest!

glad to see this nice review as usual i mangaged to pick this up for 12 pounds from my friend who didnt realize its worth love the figures also currently have them displayed getting beat by my avengers

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Welcome to my world where it's all about the hunt, about bagging the prize, the much coveted, the very sought after, chase variant toy!

Ok, ok, so it's not just about rare toys. But it is about toys--how I found them, how I got them, and how I find playing with them such a joy.

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The Chase Rating System

10- I'd give an arm and a leg (plastic or otherwise) for this figure9 - I'd take your arm and leg (non-plastic) for this figure8 - It's a keeper!7- A good toy all round, perhaps some minor flaws6 - Above average with obvious flaws5 - Poor toy. Poor you! (If you've got this)4 - Toss it in the custom bin3 - I wouldn't wish this toy on anyone but your worst enemy2- Makes small children cry1- It killed my pet dog